Okay, I was planning on making this a "feature" one of these days, but what the hell.
First off -- there are a ton of movies that I haven't seen yet. This is explained, partly, in the text of #1. But Casablanca, Shichinin No Samurai, Double Indemnity, Citizen Kane, Schindler's List, Das Boot (all the way through)... these are movies that I should probably go watch before spouting off an opinion. But when I was younger I hated black and white, and for whatever reason, a bunch of "classic" movies like that are never on HBO.
This article is poorly written, poorly thought-out, and poorly proofread. On the other hand... it exists. Anyway, here we go:
10. The Shawshank Redemption. One reason I've never done a list is because I can't settle on #10. Sometimes it's this one. Sometimes it's the Empire Strikes Back. I keep meaning to go re-view The Brotherhood of the Wolf as well, because it was the only sub-titled movie that I've ever been able to stand in my life. But regardless, my brother and I are glued to TNN or TNT or whichever station happens to be playing it on TV when it's on -- and we *own* the friggin' DVD. Tim Robbins's best performance, and he's lucky he had this movie because otherwise... Jesus Christ.
9. The best sports movie ever made, and it's not even about one of the big four American sports.
Nothing gets you more pumped to go out and live your worthless goddamn life than Rounders. Full of great lines, full of great performances... it's one of the most quotable movies ever, and hasn't quite reached that level that Monty Python's Holy Grail is at where you're a tool for mentioning a line in the thing.
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. When I left this thing the first time, I turned right to Danzaland and exclaimed
NOW THAT'S A FUCKING MOVIE. Andy Serkis was fucking robbed, it should be stated, because Gollum is possibly one of the best characters in all of written fiction, and he nailed his part for this thing. I didn't think it possible. For a D&D nerd, this is as good as it currently is. A bunch of guys made up of various races and classes start kicking the shit out of everyone in their way. Even the two useless hobbits there who spent the entire film in a CGI tree hit a homer when they are up to bat. More than any other film on my list, this is the very definition of what feeling you should get after leaving a movie theatre.
7. Out of Sight. This is actually pretty embarassing, seeing how Clooney and Lopez have done everything in their power to make this movie seem like an aberation, but I'm not going to lie to the good denizens of Jolt Country. First off, Lopez is so hot that she might as well be from another planet. Normal humans don't look this good throughout an entire film -- it's too bad she got really, really annoying immediately afterwards. I hated Don Cheadle for two movies after this one because he did such a good job with his role here. Ving is even bringing the noise in this one, remarkably enough. Great "crime" flick -- admittedly, if I had watched any of the million of crime flicks that existed in the 40s I'd probably think otherwise, but I haven't. So that's that.
6. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. My favorite TV show brought to the big screen and done right for the first time, and as it turns out, for one of only two times ever. This was a big sloppy hummer given to all the geeks who followed James T. Kirk and his 78 adventures on TV. Regardless of what a person happens to be "into" -- whether it's TV shows, or sports, or music, whatever -- that person deserves to have their interests done as well as Wrath of Khan. If you're a fan of Kirk, you get to see him do his best work ever in this film. The Ultimate Alpha Male taking care of shit that needs taking care of. And possibly the best single scene in all of science fiction when Spock dies. You can go on and on about this thing before even bringing that bit up.
5. Blade Runner. Oh, Ridley did his best to fuck this one up, but I am not buying it if he's telling me that Deckard was an android. Actually, fuck it -- if he is, or if he isn't, this thing still works. No movie has ever come close to showing such an immersive world. It launched my absolute favorite "genre" in the world, even though Hollywood has done shit with it. The colors and imagery and pace and soundtrack put everything else, ever, to shame.
4. Mallrats. OK, this probably shouldn't be ranked above Blade Runner, but Mallrats was more personal, so it wins. Brodie Bruce is the best character ever created, and even though the parts with T.S. flat-out blow, he brings so much to the table that this is the movie that I have probably seen more than any other. Jason Lee completely carries this train wreck otherwise. This guy isn't even a comics geek himself, yet he runs through his lines with such force and authority that every comics nerd who *is* out there finally got to enjoy their hobby without feeling like they had some kind of disease.
3. Re-Animator. Horror is my second favorite genre, and there is hardly any decent or compelling work in that field, either. A bunch of nobodies put this thing together (it's based off a story of H.P. Lovecraft) and managed to improve on the source material. The scene at the beginning with the lone lightbulb on a string rocking back and forth is the best single use of lighting I've ever seen in my life. Creepy, cheesy, depraved, funny... it's all there in this thing.
2. Highlander. The thing I dig about this film is that it is the creation of an entirely new genre and mythology. Nothing was really "borrowed" from other material -- sure, everything in this movie is ruined by the shows and flicks that followed -- but for a single experience this thing is my second favorite movie. There's not a wasted scene in it. It depicits the 80s right before they escaped the miserable clutches of the 70s, oh, and it's all about people chopping each other's fucking heads off with swords. I don't know how it got this good, but it did.
1. Chasing Amy. This movie is important to me for three reasons -- first, it has a "message" that every twenty something Generation Xer needed to hear. Secondly, it showed me that there was another guy out there who had similar interests to mine. I was blown away when this was revealed. Lastly, it's the movie that got me interested in movies. I used to really think nothing of films at all. They were no more compelling than TV. It was something generated by a bunch of rich jerks and sluts and I had absolutely nothing in common with them, and they had nothing that they could possibly tell me. Chasing Amy changed all that. My eyes were opened that there *were* some directors out there who had something to say and more, were right around my age while saying it. All the movies in this list except for Highlander and Khan I went and caught *after* I saw Chasing Amy. I got on a movie kick due to this film and this film only. I'm interested in DVDs and the like only after coming in contact with it. Furthermore, I caught it the Big Breakup of my life, and I was able to throw myself into a brand new hobby rather than mope about with a miserable expression on my face 24/7. Chasing Amy, regardless of whether or not anyone thinks it "the best movie," is the best movie ever
for me. A copy of it, "Zork I" and _When Gravity Fails_ are the three most important and cherished bits of media in my life. They changed everything.